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Re: The Getting in Shape Thread

Originally Posted by Zeltrax

Someone told me that fat loss and muscle gain are 2 different things.
You can't lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, as in converting fat into muscle is impossible. Am I wrong ? Also , I didn't really think about "being well shaped and cool" instead I thought about being "slim and normal" but now, no. I don't think my ambition is that small anymore. I want to look good and I'll do what it takes to achieve it.

You are right, as is that someone. However, you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. As for the change in your motivation, I find it to be pretty coherent. I was in a kinda similar situation to yours when I was 14~15 years old (~78 kg for 1,53m) and I followed almost the same path in my thinking, except that I realised that I needed to train my body a bit earlier (not around 70%, but around 50% of my weight loss goal) because of my lack of upper body power/balance while playing football.

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When a friend of mine "examined" my arms or something he told me that maybe I loss my fat the wrong way, as in if I did the right way, I won't be so flabby and such. I wonder if he was right. Count on the cold? Singapore's climate is pretty humid throughout the year.

A cold climate (0°C or less) is a little helpful for your body being more toned and healthy looking, as well as for preventing muscle and bone loss since it acts against the aging process. Also, from what I could read and my own experience, weather based on heat and humidity isn't the best for the body, especially if it's all you have to deal with all year round. Weather's accessory, but it helps, especially in situations like ours when one loses a great amount of weight in so little time without the proper follow up in bodybuilding soon enough.

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Uh..do you mind if I ask what are the basics to "start bodybuilding" ?
The most I can go for pushups is 3 sets..that's pathetic. And since I just started push-ups and sit-ups and chair-dips are the only thing I've been doing. I have a pair of 2kg dumbbells at home and I want to use them effectively.
The doctor thing seems like a good idea, maybe one day I'll drop by the public clinic for a check-up.

That’s what I can respond to by experience (no training grounds for me), without reading or asking my friends (who are far more indulged in body training than I am).
These three are great already. Regarding the push-ups, I’d advise you to use push-ups bars, or if you don’t, maybe, depending on your dumbbells’ shape, you can use them as substitutes. It lowers greatly the pressure on the wrists without the angle, which should be useful at first to improve your form, and all in all is necessary to avoid causing pain to your wrists.
There are plenty of exercises to do with the dumbbells, whichever you choose to do will be useful, just make sure, as for all other kind of bodybuilding exercise, to adopt the right form. Given what you are already doing though, I think that you’d better start out with biceps and shoulders exercises.
Once you'll be stronger (probably after 6~7 weeks of training), shoulder and arms wise, maybe you can try to fetch yourself a chin-up bar to add to your routine and strenghten your back with pull-ups.
Afterwards, it all depends on how often you will train, then how many repetitions, how much time of rest you’ll allow yourself between each exercises within your training session (cardio), and how you will eat between sessions to help your muscles’ restructuring. And try to have fun while training; it's almost as important as the visible results imho.

Re: The Getting in Shape Thread

Thanks for that website and the one with dumbbells workouts, I really appreciate it i'm not really sure about making changes to my diet...will it really not work if I don't eat enough protein?

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A cold climate (0°C or less) is a little helpful for your body being more toned and healthy looking, as well as for preventing muscle and bone loss since it acts against the aging process. Also, from what I could read and my own experience, weather based on heat and humidity isn't the best for the body, especially if it's all you have to deal with all year round. Weather's accessory, but it helps, especially in situations like ours when one loses a great amount of weight in so little time without the proper follow up in bodybuilding soon enough

ITA, singapore weather doesn't do good for skin and healthcare. But the weather is good for burning fat when its humid.

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These three are great already. Regarding the push-ups, I’d advise you to use push-ups bars, or if you don’t, maybe, depending on your dumbbells’ shape, you can use them as substitutes. It lowers greatly the pressure on the wrists without the angle, which should be useful at first to improve your form, and all in all is necessary to avoid causing pain to your wrists.

my wrists is not as painful as my arms after doing those pushups..I'll be honest and say that I don't do pushups or any form of muscle building exercises ever so this isn't going to be easy.

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There are plenty of exercises to do with the dumbbells, whichever you choose to do will be useful, just make sure, as for all other kind of bodybuilding exercise, to adopt the right form. Given what you are already doing though, I think that you’d better start out with biceps and shoulders exercises.

thank you for this, it helps a lot for sure

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Once you'll be stronger (probably after 6~7 weeks of training), shoulder and arms wise, maybe you can try to fetch yourself a chin-up bar to add to your routine and strenghten your back with pull-ups.

Really looking forward to getting a pull-up bar. I hope by 7 weeks of training I'll get better, I hit the gym only once a week so maybe it'll be longer

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Afterwards, it all depends on how often you will train, then how many repetitions, how much time of rest you’ll allow yourself between each exercises within your training session (cardio), and how you will eat between sessions to help your muscles’ restructuring. And try to have fun while training; it's almost as important as the visible results imho.

ITA.
What's cardio exactly? I know jump rope and biking are forms of it but I dk the exact meaning/exercises behind it and what cardio I should take.

Re: The Getting in Shape Thread

Thanks for that website and the one with dumbbells workouts, I really appreciate it i'm not really sure about making changes to my diet...will it really not work if I don't eat enough protein?

You're very welcome. It will still work, but less. Given your goal (which is not to become a bodybuilder), you don't necessarily need to assimilate much protein. I think that eating well (diversified, with appropriate proportions, and with regularity for the meals' time/numbers) and above all hydrating yourself is the most important here.

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my wrists is not as painful as my arms after doing those pushups..I'll be honest and say that I don't do pushups or any form of muscle building exercises ever so this isn't going to be easy.

Yupyup, I know that at the level you are now, your wrists are probably safe. But I'm sure that you will evolve quickly, and believe me, I've experienced the same kind of pattern before and the pain you can suffer in your wrists while doing many push-ups without any tool, plainly, on the ground, several times a week (or everyday), can become quite awful. Your wrists are also very important to all the other exercises you'll be doing. Better safe soon than sorry later I think.

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ITA.
What's cardio exactly? I know jump rope and biking are forms of it but I dk the exact meaning/exercises behind it and what cardio I should take.

"Cardio" is a term used to designate one's heart rate. You should have gained a lot in that regard thanks to your running sessions already.
If you slowly lessen the time of rest between each exercise, it will slowly accustom your heart to maintaining a higher rate for a longer period of time. Do not change it rashly though, as it could hinder your whole routine. If you notice that by reducing this rest time, you end up too short of breath too soon to end your routine, you should adjust it accordingly.
Again, given your goal, that shouldn't be something you should concern yourself too much with.

Re: The Getting in Shape Thread

Finally I opened running season yesterday! It was fun. Didn't expect that I was in quite a good form after winter.
I've run about 5 kilometers and now I'll start do it regularly as the weater got fine and thus nothing will stop me.
After some time I'll change to two times per day 5 kilomets each. Hope I won't be to late to get into a good shape for summer))

Re: The Getting in Shape Thread

This year I've put on a bit of weight, which means I'm developing love handles. I've recently gone into a diet in which I only eat around four times, trying to make those meals lean meats, and also drink a lot of water, as well as tea if I'm feeling a little peckish. Thing is I need to do some exercises as well, so does anybody know any good exercises for losing weight which don't require me to go to the gym (right now I don't have that much time, nor an easy way to actually get there)? Preferably something that doesn't include jogging, seeing as my friends are unwilling to go with me and doing it on my own is dead boring.

Re: The Getting in Shape Thread

Do that. Requires only at least 15 minutes and you only need the floor you occupy- called the prison work-out for a reason- no need for equipment, minimal space requirement, you can do it in your room.

But it took me a while to get it together. For the first few days I'd been doing it I couldn't execute it properly because my muscles were still not used to it- and it took me a lot longer to accomplish. But eventually my time got shorter executing them properly.

Re: The Getting in Shape Thread

Hai you fit fucks, dropping by with an update on my progress.

Got back to the gym after a summer without exercise (worried about my heart so I spent the summer drunk -.-) but got back eight days ago as I now can give 100% in the gym without having to worry about anything.

Today, for example, we did back/abs and a normal routine looks like this;